514 
lieport of the Judges on the 
tacle, then let out through a tap, it runs in a shallow stream the 
whole length of the trough, spreads over the wider end, and falls 
in a perfect little cascade over the lip into the tank, where it is 
measured and drawn off into the railwaj-churns. We tested 
the milk in the upper tank, and found its temperature 87°; by 
the time it was in the lower tank it was 42°, Not only in the 
refrigerator and the fountain has Mr. Archer shown his skill and 
ability to take advantage of Nature's provision, but from the 
clear ponds on the hill-side, which are abundantly stocked with 
delicious trout, for which Ashbourne is famed, he derives the 
power to cut chaff, grind corn, saw timber, &c. ; also an excel- 
lent supply of good water for the cattle-troughs, which are 
conveniently placed around a yard near the comfortable cow- 
sheds. By the side of a barn there is an over-shot water-wheel 
covered with a wooden roof. To turn this, the water is brought 
under ground in an iron nine-inch pipe 168 feet long. When 
the pipe is near the wheel, it rises up like the traditional sea- 
serpent or the letter S, and discharges the water on the wheel, 
thus retaining all the advantage of the fall, without the unsightly 
and inconvenient over-head trunk. By this water-wheel an 
efficient corn-mill, a circular saw, which works very nicely, and 
a chaff-cutter, are worked. The latter has attached, in an 
ingenious manner, an endless self-acting band, which carries 
the chaff to the mixing-room as it is cut. Parallel with the 
barn where this machinery stands is a large wooden hay-barn 
with double bays, in which the whole of the corn and hay grown 
on the farm are placed. It is so arranged that after one bay is 
emptied, the steam threshing-machine may work under cover in 
any weather, corn and straw being all kept in the dry. There 
are some capital grains-cisterns, which could be filled with grains 
obtained from the brewery close by the farm. 
Mr. Archer also manufactures for himself and his neighbours 
sulphate of ammonia of the highest quality from the gas liquor 
he gets at Ashbourne. Below the yards is a covered tank, into 
which all the liquid manure drains ; a water-cart can be backed 
under and filled from a tap in a convenient manner. This is 
applied to the grass-land with good effect. All these fixtures 
and erections noticed, with many other permanent improve- 
ments, are the work of the present occupier. Another point 
deserves special notice. All manure is taken right away from 
the cow-sheds and other buildings, and placed in a yard where 
it cannot be a nuisance. This is a good example to dairy 
farmers, and especially to cheese-makers, for nothing is so easily 
affected by bad smells as milk, and an unpleasant odour will 
spoil cheese or butter. 
Labour. — As in most farm-houses in Derbyshire, some of the 
